Three groups of adolescent girls ages 15-18 were compared regarding recent life stresses. Group I consisted of 50 girls pregnant for the first time. Group II consisted of 50 girls who never had been pregnant but were sexually experienced (defined as having engaged in sexual intercourse). Group III consisted of 50 girls who never engaged in sexual intercourse. All three groups were asked nine questions of demographic information and were administered the Recent Life Events Questionnaire. Subjects were asked to rate from 1-5 each event that had happened to them: for Group III the year before testing, for Group II the year before first engaging in sexual intercourse, and for Group I (who took the RLEQ twice) both the year before first intercourse and the year before first pregnancy. Results suggested that rating of events did not discriminate between groups, but the number of actual events that had occurred in their lives did. Significant differences also were noted among the three groups regarding adopted versus nonadopted status and the combined abuse index (index reflecting numbers of subjects who had been victims of either child abuse or sexual abuse at home). More girls in the pregnant group reported being adopted and being victims of abuse than would be expected in the general population. The study suggests a profile of girls at risk for adolescent pregnancy from stresses in their lives and without regard to their sexual behavior.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:rtd-1697 |
| Date | 01 January 1983 |
| Creators | Lenzi, Mahalla |
| Publisher | University of Central Florida |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Retrospective Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Public Domain |
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